PhD candidates impress in 3 Minute Thesis competition

Thursday 31 May saw the entertaining final of the 3 Minute Thesis competition at Queen Mary. Four PhD students from three different Schools battled it out to explain their thesis in three minutes each, educating and engaging an audience of friends and peers while impressing the panel of judges.

4 June 2018

The strict rules of the competition, which originated in Australia and has spread over the world, mean competitors have just three minutes to present their research, accompanied by a single static slide.

Muhammad Sami Siddiqui was named People's Champion

The finalists and their presentation titles were:

Esteban Ortega Hernandez from the School of Engineering and Materials Science: ‘New approaches in the treatment of heart failure’

Taqi Abrar from the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science:‘Design of a soft growing robot’

Zoë McGee from the School of English and Drama:‘Meaningful consent in 18th-century female-authored courtship novels’

Muhammad Sami Siddiqui, also from the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science:‘The world where robots are able to see and feel like humans’

Staff and students were invited to vote for their favourite presentation ahead of the final, and Muhammad Sami Siddiqui was crowned people’s champion on the night.

The judging panel at the live event comprised three colleagues well-versed in the art of presenting complex research to a range of audiences: Kimberley Freeman, Executive Officer for Public Engagement; Sarah Barnes, Public Engagement Manager; and Doctoral College Director, Dr Paul Allen.

The panel took just five minutes to agree on the outcome, naming the final’s runner-up as Taqi Abrar for his engaging talk on the development of soft robots.

Zoë McGee was crowned champion on the night

But it was Zoë McGee who emerged victorious on the night for her impassioned presentation examining the link between modern and 18th-century ideas and representation of consent.

Zoe’s presentation will now be entered into the wider national competition, so look out for further details. All the presentations are available to view by self-enrolling on the 3MT QMplus page: qmplus.qmul.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=8489